Exitium Caesaris: The Death of Caesar, was reenacted by ERHS Advanced Latin Students on March 15, a date that corresponds with Julius Caesar’s assassination on the Roman calendar in 44 BC. The play was presented in Latin along with an English translation.

“It’s actually a tradition that goes back to before I was hired. My predecessor did this play. I’m guessing it’s far back as when she was here. This custom is about 30 years old, we’ve been doing it for that long,” said ERHS latin teacher and play director, Mr. Matthew Moore.

“I remember watching it my freshmen year,” said Junior, Christine Zhang. “I think it’s a strong thing we do for the classics,” said Junior, Edmund Obeng.

Each year, Latin students choose a new theme in order to put a twist on their Julius Caesar play. The latin students’ theme of choice for this school year alluded the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Other than the avatar theme we had a bunch of options like, Star Wars, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a pretty solid theme,” said Zhang, who played Cinna as a version of Toph from Avatar.

The Latin Cast was as follows. The roles listed in parentheses represent a character from Avatar:

• Keigan Thornton as Civis I (Dragon)
• Sonny Robinson as Civis II (Owl)
• Edmund Obeng as Caesar (Fire Lord)
• Meinhart Vallar as Antonius (Iroh)
• Michelle Marsandi as Cassius (Aang)
• Monica Walton as Brutus (Zuko)
• Haizhao Bo as Casca (Momo)
• Christine Zhang as Cinna (Toph)
• Nathan Donoghue as Metellus Cimber
• Assiatu Bantama as Calpurnia (Azula)
• Shaan Singh as Decimus Brutus
• Edward Brennan as Vates (Katara)
• Cameron Evans as Servus (Cabbage)

The English Cast was:

• Maggie O’Brien as Civis I
• Brutus, and Calpurnia
• Yvette Ondouah as Civis II
• Antonius, and Cassius
• David Gardner as Caesar
• Elizabeth Troiano as Decimus, Brutus, Vates, Servus, and Casca
• Percival Pegafrog as Cinna.

Gallery • 10 Photos

Ngozi Aghanya

The theatrical played hastened mid-scene changes that brought difficulties to some actors. “Definitely transitioning between the different characters and part” was difficult, said Senior, O’Brien. “I was running around a lot, I had to do mid scene changes which wasn’t easy,” said senior Elizabeth Troiano.

Nevertheless the theatrical play was a success the latin students relished. “This is where I belong [taking Latin], these are my people,” said Troiano. “We have a lot of fun,” said senior David Gardner.

“We take several weeks to prepare for this [and] it’s a nice break for the students. I’ve been told by other faculty members and students that they like seeing it, so we keep it going,” said Mr. Moore.